Psalm 1

Delight / Meditate (Psalm 1)

Message Notes

Delight / Meditate (Psalm 1)

Today's Songs:

Lay Me Down - Chris Tomlin

Your Glory/Nothing but the Blood - All Sons & Daughters

White as Snow - Jon Foreman

Came to my Rescue - Hillsong United

None but Jesus - Hillsong United


Remember, you can find all the songs from this week and previous weeks in a publicly shared, accumulating playlist on Google Play and in weekly playlists on YouTube (like this one).

Summary: Psalm 1 - strong dichotomy between a good man and a wicked man. The one thing we are called to "do" from this Psalm is to meditate, biblically, filling the mind and the soul with God's word. Pondering, musing, considering.

Key Scripture (Psalm 1): Book One

The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked

Blessed is the man[a]

    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law[b] of the Lord,

    and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree

    planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

    and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so,

    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

    but the way of the wicked will perish.

Meditation involves time

Scripture frequently commands the consistent and persistent meditation upon God's word (Joshua 1:8, Philippians 4:8, Psalm 63:6, John 15:7)

This involves persistence and patience.


Jesus, Paul, Moses all spent time in isolation prior to assuming public ministry. Ezra and his folks took a 3 day prayer and fasting break.

This involves resolve.


Psalm 119:23 and Ezra 7:10 tell us that we will set our hearts to meditate upon God's word despite things or entities or circumstances that may oppose meditation.

This is counter to our instant gratifying culture whereby we seek to eliminate any sort of wait whatsoever from anything that we do. We want God to work now. We want action. We don't want to marinate upon His word and wait, as Scripture often calls us to do.

MEDITATION INVOLVES REVELATION

Psalm 119:18 tells us that there are wondrous things in God's law (word).

Back to Psalm 19, we see the General Revelation which from Romans 1 reveals to us that there is a God whereby no man is without excuse.


The latter half of Psalm 19 shows us the law (special revelation) whereby men come before the law in one of two conditions.

For unregenerate men, the law is a curse, a schoolmaster, death even. (Galatians 3:10, Galatians 3:24, Romans 7)


For Regenerate men, the law has been written upon our hearts. Paul delights in the law in his inner being. (Romans 7:22) Essentially two errors in dealing with the law...legalism, seeking justification through works and two, antinomianism...dismissing the legitimacy of God's law upon salvation.

There is no conflict between law and Gospel but in the hearts of unregenerate men. Psalm 1 tells us that a blessed man meditates upon his law (word) day and night.

MEDITATION INVOLVES TRANSFORMATION

Psalm 19:13-14, the law reveals to us who we are, convicts us of sin, makes us like the tree in Psalm 1: firm, nourished, fruitful, and prosperous.

At Ahava - Summer of Psalms Series

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